Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader - "I have no idea of that. I don't have a belief of that nature because I have no basis on which to base such a belief," Hoyer said. "And I certainly hope that's not the case. And I don't draw that conclusion."

Hoyer's office later forwarded a statement to FOX News clarifying his position. "I believe the speaker's assertions when she says them," he said told MSNBC Thursday. "But again, whether I believe them, you believe them, or what she asserts as to what she knew or when she knew it, that's a stalking horse. That's a distraction."

CIA Director Leon Panetta - "It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress," and "Our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of [suspected terrorist] Abu Zubaida, describing the 'enhanced techniques that had been employed."[Panetta's full statement]

"Ignore the noise and stay focused on your mission," he said.
"There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I'm gone," he said.

Words are letters strung together. Troubling, however, is that they are being played out in public. Ask the question, How Does Closing GITMO Make Us Safer? Words? Even those ill-conceived or misunderstood have impact. That impact will be determined in the days ahead.